<p>Hello everybody,</p>
<p>First, thank you for helping me make my decision to attend UMD.
Second, is it better to sign up for an early orientation date, before my AP scores will be in (including Calc BC) or a later orientation date after my AP scores will be in?</p>
<p>Earlier is better without question. Once u get “cleared” to sign up for classes u can always change throughout the summer if u want to make adjustments so better to start the process sooner.</p>
<p>I agree with Maryversity. My D registered for the first orientation date that she could get.</p>
<p>Not sure I get this. My D has signed up for a July session due to summer soccer committments etc. Is that bad. What do you miss if you go to late orientation? She’s in honors college so I assume course sign ups are not a huge issue. What’s the 411? thanks!</p>
<p>PS. you have to take a math placement test no matter HOW you do on AP or IB exams.</p>
<p>My daughter did a June orientation last year. But to be honest, I wish she had gone after AP scores had come in. Her advisor at orientation said that he wouldn’t let her place out of classes that she hadn’t received her AP scores for yet. So she had to redo her schedule once her scores were sent. It wasn’t a big deal, but I just thought it would have been easier had we already had the scores. </p>
<p>We have the same issue with AP, but my son is doing a “before AP results are in” orientation also. I’ve heard from multiple people that earlier is better, but then I’ve also heard from people far away that they much later orientation is fine. </p>
<p>So we did the orientation before AP results without a problem. First off, @mitchkreyben is correct that EVERYBODY needs to take the math placement test and it should be completed BEFORE you attend orientation. More on that in a minute…</p>
<p>@hummingb, I wonder what your d’s major is and the AP she was trying to place out of…wonder if that had an impact. Certainly, there is variety between how students are directed based on their adviser and I imagine also based on the AP and major. For example, in engineering, there is a very clearly-defined four year plan with a LOT of very specific courses that have to been taken. There is not a whole lot of wiggle room other than the gen ed electives like there is in other majors, so some advisers in other majors may take a firmer stance on that issue if the AP is not related to the major but just to meet other requirements such as a prereq for a higher level class.</p>
<p>So, back to the placement test; the highest math you can “place” into is MATH140 (Calc1) but my son was able to register for MATH241 (Calc3) without a problem (tested into highest math) before AP test results came out and was just told that if he didn’t get a high enough score, he would have to drop down to a lower math accordingly. There is a huge debate among engineers on the value of starting at Calc1 even if you get a 5 on the AP simply because it’s so fundamental to engineering, but that’s another issue entirely.</p>
<p>The reason earlier orientation is better is that they take the “block” off your ability to sign up for general classes. So, if you go to orientation early, you have more time to change your mind and play around with your schedule throughout the summer. The classes you sign up for at orientation are not set in stone - you actually can change online any time after that as long as you qualify to take the class you want (as in no prereqs). </p>
<p>Early orientation also increases your odds of getting a seat in a class with a waitlist that much sooner because your number on the waitlist is lower. However, do NOT let waitlists freak you out. Son has gotten into several classes when his number on the waitlist was in the " high teens." Some fundamental classes will even open an additional section when the wait list gets too high. Note that doesn’t apply to electives though.</p>
<p>As for later orientations, if that’s all you can attend, then don’t stress. They specifically reserve/hold back seats to make some available for each orientation session to give everyone a shot at getting the classes they need. However, that only applies to the required classes that are basic to many majors - they don’t hold back seats in electives. They do, however, pre-select a few electives that are only available to “new/transfer students” to make sure some “good/interesting” electives are an option – anyone with more than a certain number of credits will not be able to sign up. So, they do look out for freshman.</p>
<p>The biggest problem of later orientations is not that you can’t get the classes you want, just that you can’t get them at the time slot you want - meaning you can get stuck with a lot of 8 am classes. For some people, it’s not a big deal. If you have a sloth, then earlier orientation will help you get that schedule where your earliest class is 10 a.m…</p>
<p>@MitchKreyben, they only hold about 4-6 seats per honors class, so if you are going in late July, I wouldn’t make the assumption that there will be no issues per se. She can def get honors classes, but might have a problem getting the ones she would prefer. Early July should be fine, but late is pushing it… Honors college students do not get special privileges for signing up for classes - they just have some classes (honors and h-version) that are available only to them —but there are still a lot of honors kids vying for the same “favorite” honor classes. </p>
<p>At freshman orientation, all kids are completely on the same playing field - meaning first come, first serve. AFTER the first semester, the class sign up order is based on the number of credits you have (so if you come in with a lot, you will register for classes before someone who has less even though both are taking 15 credits the first semester - that’s where honors kids have a perceived privilege/advantage since most honors kids come in with a lot of AP credits). Make sense? </p>
<p>@maryversity, my daughter is a biology major in the honors college. She was waiting on scores for five AP courses she had taken senior year, but only the AP Chemistry and AP Calc BC scores had an impact on her first semester schedule at that point. After her scores came, she was allowed to go straight into Organic Chemistry and she no longer needed to take calculus, so she had to rearrange her schedule accordingly. Not a big deal really, but it would’ve been nice to figure out her schedule just once. I know that when she had gotten home from orientation she stated how she had met a Chemistry major who was told the same thing from her advisor - that he wouldn’t let her sign up for classes that she would likely place out of based on her soon-to-arrive AP scores.</p>
<p>So maybe it’s the CMNS advisors that won’t let you bump up without AP scores since your son’s engineering advisor let him do it for math?? Or maybe it’s just certain advisors?? I don’t know. Anyways, at that point I just remember thinking how if she had gone to orientation a week later, she would have had her scores and she could have discussed the exact path she would end up taking, not the “what if’s” of her schedule. In the end, it probably is better to go to an early orientation, however it’s still not perfect. Just my two cents 
</p>
<p>Actually makes sense now since calc3 was not a pre-req for any of the other courses he signed up for that semester. So there was no impact one way or other. However if a course has a pre-req it means the pre-req has to be completed first - thus your d’s situation of an adviser not clearing her for the class that required that credit on record.</p>
<p>This is actually a pretty big stressor for me. My kid got accepted for Computer Science as a transfer, and would have taken the 5/9 date, which is the earliest one just for transfers. But he has a final class at the current community college he’s attending that he can’t miss (even though the credits for that class aren’t even transferring!). Anyway, he’s signed up now for a relatively early date of June 4, but lots of sections he wants are going quickly, and will probably be gone during the first two orientation dates (6/2 and 6/3). We’re just going to have to monitor the open slots a day or so before the orientation so he can go in with plans A, B, C, and D!.</p>
<p>You are absolutely fine with June 4th. I’m not in a position to tell you not to stress because I absolutely felt the same way myself a few years ago, so I totally get it…the waiting/not knowing/uncertainty is the worst part. However, I hope it helps to know it’s more the late July orientations that have the higher chance of getting stuck with the 8 am classes. Even with all heroic efforts, my son has taken an 8 am class at least once because that is the one and only time a particular class is offered, so sometimes, things are beyond your control. Don’t forget, for the big/required classes, sections will have seats opened at each orientation even though they will appear to have no seats up until that time. And do not be afraid of waitlists…they stand still for a while but they will eventually start to move near the end of the summer and sometimes faster than you expect. People change schedules, sections are added, things work out for the required classes. Hang in there…</p>
<p>Thanks, Maryversity. So I assume then that he basically sign up for an open section, and then get on the waitlist for the same class for the section/instructor he wants?</p>
<p>Actually, a great question - learned the hard way that no, you actually cannot waitlist the sections you would prefer if you “take” a seat in an open section! Once you accept a seat in a section, there is no option to waitlist the same class at a different time.</p>
<p>First go round, that was an immediate lesson that we learned. Part 2 of that same lesson was once he decided he wanted to play chicken and drop the open section to take his chance on the waitlist for the better teacher, we also learned that you should only waitlist sections you actually are willing to take. So, what he did initially was to waitlist several sections, but he actually preferred only 2 of the 3 times he waitlisted. He only waitlisted the third because of a low waitlist number. So, duh, that was the one that had the opening first…and the first section that has an opening is the one you will be put into, automatically taking you off the waitlist for other sections (per rule 1) - unless you decline. So, it really makes no sense to sign up for the 9 am section waitlist if he only wants the 10 am or 11 am. </p>
<p>Now, part 3 of the lesson. My son has a Presidential which states a minimum number of credits per semester required to be eligible for the scholarship. Well, waitlisting does NOT count as credit until you actually get a seat in the class. So, you can imagine my heart attack when we got our first bill and my son was on the waitlist for 3 classes, so technically not full-time and therefore not eligible (tuition bill was higher than it should be). A call to the school calmed my nerves that as soon as he got “into” those classes, the scholarship award would be credited to his account - he didn’t “lose” his eligibility, but just kinda postponed it temporarily. Lesson learned. </p>
<p>So it sounds like the best strategy is simply to sign up for what you can get and then monitor the schedule over the summer and see if they add new sections, then drop the one and add the other if something better comes along?</p>
<p>Sort of but not exactly - they only create new sections when the waitlist gets to a certain point and only on the big required classes. The people on the waitlist get dibs on the seats in the new sections - they get placed in them before you will even be aware a new section is created. So, once you see the additional section posted, it will likely already be filled if it’s a popular requirement --so you will still have a chance of still having to go on a waitlist if you weren’t on the original waitlist. It’s a game. Sometimes you will be willing to play the odds and sometimes you are just happy to get what you can. If there is a seat open and you need the class, and it’s not your #1 choice but still acceptable, then yes grab it. If it’s not acceptable, then it’s worth playing the waitlist game* and just relax about not having the class definitely on your schedule until a seat becomes available. You’ll decide based on the situation. </p>
<p>*the waitlist game is really only stressful the first time around only because you don’t know and it’s hard to believe when there is no movement for weeks…as the semester draws closer, you get your faith back and start to breathe again. These days I don’t blink when I hear he’s on a waitlist. </p>
<p>When I said lesson 3 was a lesson learned I meant only that it was nothing to stress about like I initially did. He got his seats in the classes and got his scholarship credit. It was just the not knowing that the scholarship might not show up on the first round bill that was the shocker. Happens now and I don’t blink an eye because of experience…it always works out fine.</p>
<p>Maybe @terpmom7 can chime in on this “strategy” issue also…</p>
<p>The main issue is trying to get the combination of a decent Calc teacher and a non 8am section. We’re really scheduling everything based on that. I know that sounds a bit crazy, but it’s really the most important factor now because the first computer science class is basically going to be a lot of repeat for him, and he’s already gotten a lot of credits that transferred over (both social sciences, both humanities, a scholarship in practice, freshman english, etc) so it gives him some wiggle room on every other aspect of the schedule. The Calc for him is going to be the biggest challenge academically.</p>
<p>This may have been covered before, but what resources are available to see which teachers are recommended?</p>
<p>@lenmonster - what level Calc? (no it’s not crazy - went thru the same thing)
@Twillsmomnp - check out ourumd.com. Since I am feeling lazy, here is a recent thread where I talked about it… <a href=“Which is easier at UMD Astronomy 100 or Literature in a Wired World? - #2 by maryversity - University of Maryland - College Park - College Confidential Forums”>Which is easier at UMD Astronomy 100 or Literature in a Wired World? - #2 by maryversity - University of Maryland - College Park - College Confidential Forums;
<ol>
<li>Choices are someone who has good reviews but only three sections, and one is almost gone, a good teacher who is at 8am (so really not an option he’ll take), a teacher who gets universally awful reviews, and an unknown who is coming from a university in Spain (at least according to a Google search). 
I was hoping they’d add discussion sections to teacher 1 who only has three sections (and then a bunch for freshman connection).</li>
</ol>